[thibs]

Once again I agree with Aristhanatos.

I sit in road map presentations 5-10 times per year but always under NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). And we generally look at them as slideware until proven otherwise. We have, I think, but one vendor that meets its 12-month targets 90% of the time. (It's a British firm but nothing to do with photography.) Some of the businesses best-regarded by Wall Street or the CIty are the worst in delivering on their claims.

Makes me think about Nvidia

[falconeye]

Some of the businesses best-regarded by Wall Street or the CIty are the worst in delivering on their claims.

I know about one company (under now exchanged management) which always used the following order of events:
1. Claim a new product
2. Sell it, accept the payment
3. Go to the drawing board and design it
4. Produce and deliver
5. Test

[eddie1960]

I know about one company (under now exchanged management) which always used the following order of events:
1. Claim a new product
2. Sell it, accept the payment
3. Go to the drawing board and design it
4. Produce and deliver
5. Test

Sounds like a marketing driven company

or a Dilbert cartoon

[Class A]

4. Produce and deliver
5. Test

That ordering reminds me of Adobe.

The "test" step is obviously performed by the customer. Adobe just does a bad job of gathering and acting upon the user feedback.

[glanglois]

It's irritating to hire engineers to do the vendors' SW QA for them. Unfortunately, it's too often test to destruction - taking only a few hours. I'm amazed that our lab engineers can put up with it all day. Says a lot about the job market for IP-capable folks.

[Chex]

I know that road-maps can put companies in a bit of a twist, they don't want to be called on when they fail to deliver for whatever reason.. but markets that are as diverse as the camera market, giving your customers some sort of information has got to be better than leaving them in the dark to just say "F-this, I'm not waiting another year to see if they come out with a FF camera (or a lens over 300mm)."

I see a lack of communication between companies and it's customer base and potential customer base as simple ignorance that can only hurt the company in the long run.. If Pentax/Ricoh came right out and said "We are working on a FF mirrorless camera we're hoping will be ready between 4thQ of 2012 and 2nd Q of 2013." What would it hurt the company?

Is this a market others probably are not looking at?? No, I'm guessing this will become the norm in the near future for higher end camera's. Would you think the other companies will "steal" their tech.. please, Pentax doesn't actually make it's major components anyways.. (well maybe it's under-par AF system). I just see no point in NOT informing your customer base.. UNLESS they don't have any confidence in their abilities to deliver a solid product.
Regardless, the way things are going, if a FF isn't announced in the next few months I'll have a tough Canikon decision to swallow on.

[Kunzite]

If Pentax/Ricoh came right out and said "We are working on a FF mirrorless camera we're hoping will be ready between 4thQ of 2012 and 2nd Q of 2013." What would it hurt the company?

Well, all those people who want a FF DSLR would leave.
Wait, it's even better: "they're making even the top-end mirrorless?" All those wanting a DSLR (APS-C even) would leave

[Chex]

If they made a FF mirrorless system, I think those wanting it in a DSLR format would at the very least wait and see how well the EVF is, if it has an optional OVF, the processors speed and shutter lag etc.. the biggest advantage for Pentax going mirrorless HAS to be an improvement of the AF system. And with that there's little reason they can't have a faster flash sync speed and other things that should be able to be done via firmware.

[Clavius]

If they made a FF mirrorless system, I think those wanting it in a DSLR format would at the very least wait and see how well the EVF is, if it has an optional OVF, the processors speed and shutter lag etc.. the biggest advantage for Pentax going mirrorless HAS to be an improvement of the AF system. And with that there's little reason they can't have a faster flash sync speed and other things that should be able to be done via firmware.

An optional OVF?? How would that work? A slot on the side in which you can shove the optional mirror?? An optional EVF hotshoe attachment can work, OVF can't.

Anybody who's THAT serious about photography that they require a FF, also requires an OVF. An FF camera with EVF would be like a F1 racecar with 80 dollar Toyo tires on it.

The ONLY advantage of an EVF system is the big bright viewfinder with the disadvantage of low resolution and lag. The OVF on a FF camera has a big bright viewfinder with the added advantage of unlimited resolution and unlimited speed.

[Pentaxor]

An optional OVF??
The ONLY advantage of an EVF system is the big bright viewfinder with the disadvantage of low resolution and lag. The OVF on a FF camera has a big bright viewfinder with the added advantage of unlimited resolution and unlimited speed.

the current best EVF's currently have 2.4m resolution. just how much resolution is that really perceptible by the human eye on the viewfinder comparing the OVF and EVF ? lag is still an issue for EVF but is only a minor problem considering the performance has improved a lot over the years. the only major advantage of an OVF is that it is energy efficient that would allow you to shoot more images with a single battery.

[falconeye]

the only major advantage of an OVF is that it is energy efficient that would allow you to shoot more images with a single battery.

I consider myself to be on the theoretical side of things too often. But here you beat me

Just look into an EVF and you'll notice immediately it is not an OVF ... So, how can anybody think their performance is similiar?

[eddie1960]

I consider myself to be on the theoretical side of things too often. But here you beat me

Just look into an EVF and you'll notice immediately it is not an OVF ... So, how can anybody think their performance is similiar?

I'm with you I haven't seen an EVF that comes close to rivaling an apsc or ff OVF (heck or even the oddball Oly E300 OVF which was as bad as they get)

Will they get there. sure when you get a fast 4 k oled display small enough. But it will still eat battery power unlike the OVF, but the added benefits will outweigh that.....so what maybe another 6-10 years AFAIAC for the tech to reach that level

[ElJamoquio]

the current best EVF's currently have 2.4m resolution. just how much resolution is that really perceptible by the human eye on the viewfinder comparing the OVF and EVF ?

I could definitely tell the difference between a 2 megapixel and a 4 megapixel monitor, for whatever that's worth. I know the VF is much smaller but it probably takes up a greater field of view.

[markku55]

MicroOLED promises even greater electronic viewfinder resolution: Digital Photography Review

[fikkser]

OK.

K-30 seems to have the k-5 body? If that is what has been posted with the DA 40 XS on it. It's silver - but with another grip than the k-5 silver. Any other differences you can see?

K-3 ???? FF with autocrop and new bigger and better body?

PENTAX K-01 & smc PENTAX-DA 40mmF2.8 XS - Official Embargo Date: 2/2/2012 - Page 3